These last few days, as I walked the familiar but
now eerie Manhattan streets my first question with each person
I meet is "have you lost someone?" Very few people
were looking for me or wanting to talk. All seemed
numbed by shock and sadness. I always had to take
the initiative and only in two cases was there strong
reluctance which of course I respected.

After hearing some details about
their brother or in-law or friend or colleague at work,
...and sharing in their sorrow and helplessness, I tried to
sense their religious affiliation and attempt a prayer. A few
spoke a prayer from their own heart. Sometimes I concluded
offering them a blessing which was most readily and gratefully
received. All were so filled with deep gratitude as we
parted.

New York is responding marvelously. On Wednesday night when I
was finishing up hours at the Bereavement Center on 29th
at 1st Ave,, and was speaking with a young German
reporter inside the main entrance door, which I was continually
opening for police, volunteers, etc, a wheelchair came in and
the quadriplegic man whose warped & twisted body called for
pity, tried to mumble his wish. After stooping down to
him and asking him to repeat his wish 4 times,
I understood that he wanted to give blood. After directing
him to the hospital next door, the policemen and reporter
were deeply impacted when I explained this to them. This
case is symbolic of all the NYers who are giving
all they have got to help those in need. I
suggested to the reporter that NY now be called the
big heart, and not just the big apple. There is
an extraordinary sense of family. Lord we thank you for
this great gift of love to your people.

An almost unbearable
weight of sorrow hangs over many hearts. A 90 year
old father mourns his 60 year old son; a terminally
ill mother mourns her 27 year old fire fighter son
while a surviving uncle hastens to make the funeral arrangements.
Brothers and sisters are missing. One parish has lost 42
people, many of whom are young parents. 30 parents are
missing from one school. There is incredible hurt, but more
amazingly, among those with whom I have spoken, a mature
forgiveness and lack of will to revenge. Justice must be
served, but the people whom I met were not vengeful.
I have not heard a single direct victim speak in
terms of revenge. Rarely have I seen such an outburst
of love of Country combined with such capacity to absorb
an unspeakable blow. Anger may surface more as time goes
on.

Some people were a little hostile to prayer. Most
were deeply grateful for having been approached and expressed that
in a prolonged and firm handshake and teary eyes. I
have prayed with Catholics, Orthodox, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Born-again, Jews, Muslims,
and even vague believers ... People spoke moving prayers for
God´s blessings and none for revenge. Let´s pray that universal
brotherhood will be advanced and not further damaged in the
aftermath.

The prospect that many bodies will not be found will
also deprive many of the healing that comes from saying
goodbye. Let´s pray for them that they will find peace
in other ways.

On the other hand, a young businessman, whom
I know, ran his companies from the 79th and on
some lower floors. Three of his brothers work with him.
The plane hit very close to them, but all the
company employees were outside of the building that morning. He
plans a mass of thanksgiving. Let´s join in to thank
for all who were spared by God´s Providence, often through
heroic sacrifice. Lord we thank you for the rescue workers,
volunteers, and all who helped and prayed.

Then there are those
who feel ´guilty´: for example a brother & sister from
out of town who argued their brother into taking a
job in the towers a month ago; managers who were
not there and who might have ordered their staff out
immediately as some did. They too need our prayers so
they may attain peace of heart for results far from
their intent and control.

Many feel the call to come closer
to God, to take all we have less for granted,
to ´renew´ their connection with God and the Church, to
come back to the sacraments, Sunday Mass, reconciliation after many
years away, (yesterday a woman at an airport parking-lot toll-booth
was ready for confession and I gave her the absolution
right there - her colleague opened up another lane so
traffic was not held up) ... let´s pray that all
these desires be transformed into reality.

We pray especially for all
those responsible for the security of all the innocent people
on this Earth. Lord guide our leaders in their decisions,
in response to this tragedy, to do justice, provide for
our safety and impede recurrence. We pray that the solemn
bonds of trust which sustain a free society will never
again be so brutally abused. Give us your strength to
transform our lives and the whole world.

As someone who came
to live here two years ago, and having been exposed
in various Countries to the attitudes people often have toward
Americans or within the USA toward New Yorkers , these
days the American people and New Yorkers in particular have
shone in a greatness which I feel bound to share
with all peoples I meet. May God continue to bless
America.